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Date Posted: 14:11:02 12/31/21 Fri
Author: Gerry (Dooley)
Subject: Michael Landon and stunts

I find it very interesting that Landon did so much of the action involving Little joe, especially the fights. I mean he's really good but you never heard him talk about it like some other actors. Robert Conrad comes to mind, he was a guy who never shut up about doing all his own stunts. Every interview with Conrad would touch on this, not so with Landon. Never heard it mentioned.

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Re: Michael Landon and stunts -- Rick, 21:23:12 01/01/22 Sat [1]

I knew Michael’s stuntmen, both Bob Miles and Hal Burton. Hal is still alive at 79. Bob died at 79 in April of 2007. My longtime friend, stuntman Jesse Wayne had to go to IMDb to post the details of his death afterwards. Jesse bumped into Conrad in 1970 and again in 1982. Their first meeting went well, but the second one not quite the same. Jesse was having dinner with Don Galloway in a famous San Fernando Valley restaurant and Conrad tried to provoke him into a fight. He just stood there warning to start something. Jesse was startled about this change in Conrad’s behavior. If there had been a fight and Conrad would’ve went down in one minute. Jesse Wayne was a professional stunt man and one of the best fight men in Hollywood. The phone chatter that night went on for hours. My good friend, Jesse Wayne did publish his autobiography that you can buy online in the book or in kindle.

Conrad did a lot the action sequence as he could, but he was still doubled by stuntman Dick Cagney. He almost got killed once when he went back first out of a two-story set window and the stuntmen on the stage for failed to catch him. He had a broken neck and a fractured skull. His TV show was put on hold for several weeks. After the the accident, Conrad was doubled more. CBS television and the insurance company were upset about it.

Michael Landon was a great athlete and could’ve been an Olympic champion. He did 90% of his stunts and outfight most of the stuntmen in Hollywood. Mike was a very warm guy and very likable and friendly. Bob Conrad was more businesslike. His real birth year was 1929, not 1935. In the drunk driving accident in 2003, the CHP pulled out his license and checked it at the hospital. March 1929… The courthouse also had his correct birth year on record as he had to go to trial for the DUI …The 28-year-old boy died from bleeding ulcers because he was under severe stress because Robert Conrad was a big-name actor and his family filed a lawsuit against him. I would imagine they settled out of court. Conrad suffered from severe paralysis and couldn’t walk anymore without the help of a cane and used a wheelchair.. He drank himself all the way to the end at the age of 89.

Guy Williams was very good with his physical feats and with the help of his stunt man Buddy Van Horn. They both did a great job… Bob Miles called Buddy to work on Bonanza couple times. Later, Van Horn doubled Clint Eastwood.

Rick

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[> [> Re: Michael Landon and stunts -- PONDEROSA PETE, 23:05:15 01/03/22 Mon [1]

Great stories. Has anybody ever interviewed ol' Hal Burton? He must have a hellava load of stories to tell!

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[> [> [> Re: Michael Landon and stunts -- Rick, 19:24:12 01/04/22 Tue [1]

I know Hal to this day. Very nice guy, of course he’s much older today and his memory has faded quite a bit. He said that to me one time. That was a long time ago… to him it was simply a job…

Rick

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[> [> Re: Michael Landon and stunts -- Rick, 19:28:16 01/04/22 Tue [1]

Harold can remember some things in general, but not everything. The one with the great memory is Jesse Wayne… you should buy his book. You can buy it at Amazon, just type in his name under books… confessions of a Hollywood stuntman….

Rick

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[> [> [> Re: Michael Landon and stunts -- Gerry (Dooley), 09:57:57 01/08/22 Sat [1]

Overall my point being that Michael was a tremendous screen fighter but seemed to be very humble about, never mentioned it as far as I know. I was wondering why they let Michael do so much of his own stuff while they doubled Dan, Pernell and David. Any thoughts Rick?

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[> [> [> Re: Michael Landon and stunts -- Rick, 19:15:06 01/08/22 Sat [1]

Michael was a very good athlete and learned how to do his fights with the help of Bob Miles to teach him. You see, when they started the show in 1959, Mike had no knowledge of fighting. Eventually he developed his own style. There are a lot of actors who do not like to do fist fights, because they can get hurt. Guy Williams didn’t like to do the fist fights on the show, so he let Buddy Van Horn do them. Williams would only film the shots where you could see him doing the fight and that was as far as he was going to go. His daughter Toni told me when I spoke with her some years back, that he didn’t like them.

In the first couple years, the other three did more of their fights because NBC wanted to economize to save money by not paying the stuntmen. Greene, Blocker and Roberts insisted the stuntmen do what they could, so they could get paid. Pernell Roberts could do good fights and Bob Miles told me that he was happy working with him.

I give them all credit for doing what they could with their fight scenes, because they put an effort into doing it. You must remember the insurance company, too. The cast members were insured later on, and if they would’ve got hurt seriously there could be a lawsuit.

Dan Blocker was afraid of horses. He didn’t like to go near them at all. He did what he could and gave much of the work to Bill Clark. Later on, he put on more weight and had to wear a back brace by 1968. He couldn’t get on the horse without putting the back brace on first, because his weight was so heavy it would affect his back. He had Bill to double him daily. When they were filming “Salute to Yesterday” at Truckee in June 1968, Dan would sit on a big, wood stool and the director would film a few shots he needed. Things like that would be done all the time to help him out. He was a lovely man…

Rick

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[> [> [> [> Re: Michael Landon and stunts -- Gerry (Dooley), 07:45:33 01/09/22 Sun [1]

very interesting , thanks

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[> [> [> [> [> Re: Michael Landon and stunts -- Tim, 10:08:34 01/24/22 Mon [1]

Thanks for all the great information, Rick, and thanks to Gerry for starting the topic.

When the subject of actors doing their own stunts comes up I always think of Michael Landon and Burt Reynolds. Burt did some of his own stunts during his Gunsmoke years, although I believe Hal Needham and others sometimes stood in for Burt during a brawl.

Tim

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